THE LEWIS CARROLL SOCIETY
immt Letter
OF NORTH AMERICA
NUMBER 38 SUMMER 1991
Eva Le Gallienne^ Stager of Alice, Dies at 92
Eva Le Gallienne. who brought Alice in Wonderland to
Broadway in three different decades, died on June 3 in her home
in Weston, Connecticut. She was 92. Her theatrical career
spanned eight decades, and she always had a soft spot in her
heart for Alice.
Eva Le Galhenne was bom in London on January U , 1 899,
the daughter of poet Richard Le Gallienne and Danish-bom
writer Julie Norregard Le Gallienne. Most of Eva's early years
were spent in France and Denmark, where she became steeped
in European culture and dreamed of one day becoming an
actress. She had not long to wait for that dream to come tme,
Fall Meeting to
Highlight Collections
The Fall 1 99 1 meeting of the LCSNA
will be held on Sat., Oct. 5, in and around
Silver Spring, Maryland. In order to al-
low for a full day of activities, we will
convene at 10:30 am at the Wheaton
Library in Silver Spring. The meeting
there will include brief presentations by
our three collector/hosts as well as talks
by British collector and Carroll expert
Selwyn Goodacre and author of the re-
cent Carroll National Geographic article
Cathy Newman.
We will then adjoum to the home of
founding members David and Maxine
Schaefer where lunch will be provided
and we will have a chance to pemse the
first collection of the day.
The next stop will be the home of Mr.
& Mrs. August Imholtz, also long-time
collectors of Carroll material. The meet-
ing will conclude with a trip to the home
Alan and Alison Tannenbaum. Dinner
will be provided while we view the third
Carroll collection of the day.
Book collectors come prepared to be
envious, and everyone come prepared
for a full day of Carroll-ing. Watch your
mailbox for further details.
for she made her stage debut in 1915 at the age of 16 in a
production of Laughter and Fools. Coincidentally, this debut
came on the stage of the Prince of Wales's Theatre in London —
the same theatre which saw the West End debut of Henry
Savile-Clarke's Alice in Wonderland in 1886.
The following year, Le Gallienne travelled to America
where two years in Ethel Barrymore's company helped to
establish her as a New York actress. An engagement in
Molnar's The Swan eamed her high praise from critics, and
during the two-year mn of that play she began to conceive the
idea which would blossom into the Civic Repertory Theatre. At
that time, there were no repertory the-
atres in New York, nor were there any
establishments such as Eva had known
as a child in Europe, which provided
productions of important dramas for a
modest price.
Though she was discouraged by New
York managers who believed that such a
project would not survive in the highly
competitive world of New York theatre,
Eva Le Gallienne left the lights of Broad-
way and, on October 26, 1926, years
before anyone had spoken the word "Off-
Broadway," opened the renovated Four-
teenth Street Theatre as the home of the newly formed Civic Repertory Theatre.
The first week saw fourplays presented in repertory, and over the next seven years,
the Civic Repertory Theatre presented thirty-four plays by Ibsen, Moliere, Shakespeare,
and others, at prices ranging from 500 to $1 .50. In order to keep the price of tickets
this low, Le Gallienne recmited patrons who subsidized the theatre in the amount of
$100,000 per year.
As the 20s gave way to the 30s and the depression deepened, Le Gallienne decided
to add an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland to the Civic 's repertory. The company
had been closed for several months in 1932 while Le Gallienne recovered from a
serious hand injury, but, as she looked towards an October reopening, her mind turned
to Alice.
'T had worked for over a year on the problem of translating the immortal Alice to
the stage," wrote Le Gallienne. 'T had visions of the irate lovers of Lewis Carroll's
masterpiece turning on me and tearing me limb from limb in blind rage, accusing me
of desecrating their sacred heritage. I decided to base our production on my firm
conviction that Alice in Wonderland is by no means primarily for children. I am
indeed inclined to believe the opposite to be tme.
'Tn the text that [Florida] Friebus and I eventually evolved there was not one word
{continued on page 2)
Eva Le Gallienne and Josephine Hutchinson
in the 1932 Alice in Wonderland
Editorial —
Ubiquitous Alice
Going to New England in June was
not meant to be an escape from Alice, but
it was the first time in years we have
taken a vacation that included no Lewis
Carroll Society meetings or pilgrimages
to places made famous by Dodgson and
his muse. She is inescapable, though, as
we might well have known and were
happy to find out.
The second day of our journey found
us in Kingston, New York, where we
wheeled the car around in heavy traffic to
make a stop at "Alice in Videoland."
Some days later the rather perplexed
proprietor of "Dolls in Wonderland" in
northern Massachusetts agreed to give us
a business card.
A quick trip into New York City for
a day of the American Booksellers Asso-
ciation convention brought us to the vast
Javits Center where we knew only new
booksellers would flock — not our anti-
quarian colleagues. An hour after our
arrival, as we scanned next fall's releases
in the world of children's books, we were
proved wrong.
"Aren't you the Lewis Carroll
people?"
It was Lois Harvey of Denver, Colo-
rado — like us, a used book dealer in-
trigued by the mere thought of attending
ABA. In southern New Hampshire we
had a similar experience as we were
checking out of a used book shop —
"Lovett & Lovett? You're the Alice
in Wonderland people, right?"
Caught again! This time due to an
article in a hometown magazine that had
been mailed to the dealer by a mutual
friend. If Alice could find us this far
away from home, we might as well con-
tinue to pursue her. The rest of our trip
brought visits with LCSNA members
Rosella Howe (many wonderful hours
around the kitchen table discussing
Carroll) and Stan Marx (who had found
a wonderful item for our collection). To
top it all off, on our way south we spent
a day visiting the Parrish Collection at
Princeton — enough to humble any
Carroll collector.
Thanks for a great trip, Alice; it's
good to know you're out there.
Le Galliennef(Yw////(/rt//)vw//wi,'(' /)
that was not Carroll. For practical pur-
poses some of the incidents were changed
in sequence, but in sequence only.
"I felt that two things were of para-
mount importance: first, the visual as-
pect of the production; secondly, the
dream quality, which could be estab-
lished only by continuous action, with
Alice never leaving the stage."
Le Gallienne addressed the first of
these problems by designing the produc-
tion after Tenniel's drawings for the y4//Vc^
books. "The entire production, down to
the smallest prop, was to be a faithful
reproduction of Tenniel's famous illus-
trations."
To achieve the dream quality of the
performance, Le Gallienne "evolved a
scheme through which it was possible to
make the action continuous by the use of
a track laid horizontally across the stage
upon which two medium-sized chariot
platforms alternately rode, shuttle-wise,
varied occasionally by the use of the full
stage without platform, and backed by a
roll of scenery that could be kept in
constant motion at varying speeds. In-
stead of Alice's having to leave the stage
and go from one environment to another,
she remained upon the stage and the
various environments came to her and
surrounded her." Thus in 1932 did Le
Gallienne use staging techniques that
would dominate American musical the-
atre over five decades later.
The long, complicated rehearsals for
Alice in Wonderland were often attended
by Clemence Dane, a playwright who
introduced Le Gallienne to Richard
Addinsell who eventually wrote a musi-
cal score for the Alice production.
Not only human beings but also pup-
pets were used in Alice. In trying to solve
the problem of representing the oysters
Le Gallienne "hit on a scheme of using
super-marionettes for the Walrus and the
Carpenter. These huge figures were over
seven feet tall. The little oyster-puppets
stood just about one foot high in their
Tenniel boots."
Largely because of the patience and
persistence of Le Gallienne and the su-
perb cast and crew she had assembled,
the pieces of the Alice production began
to fall into place. The lavish sets and
costumes gave the show a dreadfully
high price tag — over $23,000 before
opening night — but, "through the energy
and stick-to-itivness of [fund-raiser] Mary
Benson, who practically held up various
still-wealthy patrons at the point of a
gun" the production opened in early De-
cember of 1932, just months after Alice
Hargreaves' memorable visit to New
York. The play, which combined both
Alice books, starred Josephine
Hutchinson as Alice, and Le Gallienne
not only directed but also played the role
of The White Queen. The cast also
included a young Burgess Meredith in
several roles, including the Dormouse.
Alice in Wonderland was hailed by
the critics as another triumph for the
Civic Repertory Theatre. Brooks
Atkinson wrote of the production that it
"recaptures more of the innocent non-
sense of the book than you would think
possible. Inasmuch as the Oxford don
wrote it for saucer-eyed reading rather
than acting, do not fault the collaborators
if they have not turned it precisely into a
play. Rather have they related it in a
frankly make-believe pageant of Tenniel
{contlniH'cl on page 4)
PLAYBILL
ALICE
IN WONDERLAND
NEW AMSTERDAM
TWeATRE
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
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New Edition of Sylvie & Bruno
Publicity Contest to Be Judged by LCSNA
Mercury House of San Francisco will be publishing a new
edition of Sylvie and Bruno this October. The single volume
will include the complete text of both Carroll's Sylvie and
Bruno books as well as Carroll's introductions and a new set of
illustrations by Santa Cruz artist Renee Flower. This book's
publication marks the first time in several decades that the
complete text of the Sylvie & Bruno books has been available
outside an anthology.
Flower's illustrations combine modem design with a wood-
cut style presentation similar to that of chapbooks being pub-
lished during Carroll's own childhood. The intentionally
primitive quality of her illustrations is reminiscent of African
ritual masks and the dual nature of the book's characters is
emphasized by the stark black and white division of their faces.
The book includes an "Editor's Note" by Thomas
Christensen which makes a strong case for Sylvie and Bruno as
a novel of literary invention. Christensen maintains that Sylvie
and Bruno did to the Victorian novel what Alice in Wonderland
did to the children's book — turned it on its head — and that it
relates to Carroll's earlier works as Ulysses relates to the more
mainstream works of Joyce. Christensen finds Carroll's phi-
losophizing off-putting, and this is unfortunate, for in his
digressions from the story one can glean a great deal about
Carroll's ideas on religion, politics, and other issues. Readers
familiar with Carroll's life will come away from the experience
of reading Sylvie and Bruno knowing more about both book and
author.
To help promote the book. Mercury House is sponsoring a
"Sylvie and Bruno Contest" in which contestants will be asked
to compose a verse in the style of the "Mad Gardener's
Song." Prizes, in the form of ^^^^^^^s\ a collection
of Lewis Carroll books, }l\^^^K5^lL ^i'l ^^ a-
warded in /^4(W\ \v^^B^T(C ^^ree age
groups: 12 W^IKa^JI ltm\.'^^S/wMM ^^^ under,
13-18, and W^l3% Sk^VV^BTcW adult. The
Illustration by Renee Flower
contest will be judged by members
of the LCSNA. Anyone interested
in assisting with the judging, please
contact the KL editor (I can use all
the help I can get). The deadline for
the contest is November 29, 1991, and winners will be an-
nounced in January, 1992.
The Complete Sylvie and Bruno (Cloth, 384pp., $30.00)
will be available from the publisher (201 Filbert Street, Suite
400, San Francisco, CA, 94133) in October.
National Geographic Features
Article on Lewis Carroll
One of the goals of the LCSNA is "to advance the public
knowledge and appreciation of the works of Lewis Carroll."
Certainly the publication of "The Wonderland of Lewis Carroll"
in the June 1991 issue of National Geographic will greatly
advance such public knowledge. The article, written by Cathy
Newman, gives a general overview of Carroll's life and works.
Newman's style of writing captures the spirit of Carroll
wonderfully as she relates her travels across England in search
of the don. As always in such short pieces, certain things are
glossed over, but one does wish that rather than spend time
telling us that the Cheshire Area Cat Championship is held in
Wales, Newman had chosen to say something about Carroll's
Russian journey other than "[he] spent his time viewing
cathedrals." Nonetheless, she touches on most of the major
aspects of Carroll's life, stopping to talk with Morton Cohen
about the relationship between Carroll and Alice along the
way. For the uninitiated, Newman provides a basis of knowl-
edge of Carroll as someone other than just the author of Alice.
When one thinks of National Geographic one generally
thinks of pictures, but the photographs for this article, by Sam
Abell, are a bit disappointing. While the view of the Christ
Church Sub-librarian's window is lovely and the reproduc-
tions of sketches and other pieces from that library's collection
are tantalizing, many of the pictures leave one wondering.
Why, for instance, are we shown a current Rugby student
studying instead of a picture of Rugby in Carroll's time? Why
does the caption for the photo of Christ Church's Hall not
mention Dean Liddell's portrait in the comer or Carroll's over
the photographer's right shoulder? Why was the photo of a
little girl passing through a green door into a garden taken in
Wales and not at the door which passes from the Deanery
garden to that of Christ Church Cathedral? And why, oh why,
does the plot summary of the Alice books contain rather
childish illustrations by William Bond rather than the original
Tenniel illustrations (even if they had to be adapted)?
Despite these shortcomings, this article must be considered
a major event in the Carroll world for it will bring the story of
Lewis Carroll to thousands who have never heard it before.
Le GaLLIENNE (continued from pu^e 2)
scenes and Tenniel costumes to the wood notes of Richard
Addinsell. No doubt the children will love it if their imagina-
tions are still unfettered. But it is certain that their elders will
love it with a nostalgic rapture for the days that no longer
come."
The popularity oi Alice was so great that Columbia Pictures
expressed interest in adapting it to the screen. Contracts had
been drawn up and were awaiting signatures when Paramount
announced plans for its film oi Alice and the Columbia project
was scrapped. Members of the Paramount staff attended many
performances of the Civic's Alice and Le Gallienne was
amused to find a message from the film company one day
asking for John Tenniel's phone number!
In spite of the success oi Alice, the Civic was strapped for
funds at the close of 1932. As the depression deepened, the
private endowment which had kept the theatre alive began to
disappear. Although attendance had been higher than ever in
1932, the company was in serious financial trouble. Clearly,
if the Civic was to survive, something had to be done.
Le Gallienne had often
turned down offers to move
her successful productions
uptown to Broadway, feel-
ing that this would be in-
consistent with the
company's goal of fine the-
atre at low prices. Now,
however, she had little
choice. Alice in Wonderland was regarded as a "hit," so, in
order to generate the cash so desperately needed to keep her
theatre alive, Le Gallienne decided to transfer /4//<:e to Broad-
way, where higher ticket prices might produce a profit at the
box office. In January, 1933, the Civic suspended its repertory
in order to move Alice to the New Amsterdam Theatre.
Brooks Atkinson again wrote a favorable review of the
production, pleading with his readers to support it for the sake
of the future of the Civic Repertory Theatre. Sadly, the move
to Broadway did not produce the desired results, and though
the Alice production went on tour to several major cities in
1933, that tour marked the end of the Civic Repertory Theatre.
Seven years after it had begun, Eva Le Gallienne's repertory
theatre became another victim of the depression.
Le Gallienne continued her career as a successful actress,
but after the war her mind turned again to thoughts of a
repertory theatre. Together with Margaret Webster she founded
the American Repertory Theatre which began producing plays
at the International Theatre on Columbus Circle in 1946.
Le Gallienne had been approached several times by Rita
Hassan who was interested in reviving Alice, and, in 1947, Le
Gallienne suggested that Miss Hassan join forces with ART to
produce the play. A satisfactory business arrangement was
reached, and, following a search for an Alice which turned up
Bambi Linn, rehearsals began. Hassan was anxious to have the
1932 Alice reproduced as closely as possible. Much of the
original creative staff was assembled, and Le Gallienne re-
peated her role as White Queen. Among the younger members
The children will love it if their imaginations
are still unfettered . . .it is certain that their
elders will love it with a nostalgic rapture for
the days that no longer come.
— Brooks Atkinson
of the cast was a white rabbit named Julie Harris who was
destined for great things.
The revival of Alice opened at the International Theatre on
April 5, 1947, later transferring to the Majestic Theatre where
it ran until June 28. Again, Alice received generally good
reviews and played to full houses. Bambi Linn was even
featured on the cover oi Life magazine. When Alice closed, it
was reported that during no part of its run had it lost money.
However, because of its initial investment and its association
with the financially beleaguered American Repertory Theatre,
it did not make money either.
During its run at the Majestic, the show was recorded in a
hour-length album for RCA Victor. Le Gallienne wrote that
"while everyone agreed on the excellence of these recordings,
RCA, for some obscure reason which they alone can fathom,
shrouded their existence in such profound mystery that I doubt
if more than a dozen people have ever heard them."
Many more people would experience Le Gallienne's i4//ce,
though. On October 23, 1955, her adaptation was transferred
to another medium — television. Alice in Wonderland was the
first presentation of the
Hallmark Hall of Fame, a
series which continues to
present television specials
to this day. Le Gallienne
again played the role of the
White Queen.
On December 23, 1982,
Le Gallienne's Alice made
a 50th anniversary appearance on Broadway, this time at the
Virginia Theatre. This lavishly mounted production was
directed by Le Gallienne, who recreated her White Queen for
a final time. Bambi Linn assisted with movement in the new
production. Unfortunately, the adaptation which had seemed
so fresh in 1932 failed to charm critics 50 years later. Though
praised for its costumes and sets, once again designed after
Tenniel, the production was generally criticized by reviewers
as having no real spark in it.
Nonetheless, Alice again made the transition from stage to
television, this time as part of Public Television's Great
Performances series. WNET-TV, one of the New York area's
public television stations, had been a major investor in the
show, and, though the play had only a brief run, the station was
eventually able to raise enough money to make Alice into a
television presentation. The TV Alice aired on October 3,
1983, and featured much of the Broadway cast, including Kate
Burton as Alice, as well as a few added stars, such as Kate's
father Richard, James Coco, and Colleen Dewhurst.
Through its three Broadway presentations, two television
adaptations, and countless regional and amateur productions,
Eva Le Gallienne's Alice in Wonderland has been seen by
hundreds of thousands of Americans. The script has been kept
almost constantly in print and available to amateurs by Samuel
French since that company first published it in the 1930s.
On the occasion of the 1982 Broadway revival oihtr Alice
Eva Le Gallienne was presented a certificate of appreciation by
the LCSNA and made an honorary member of the Society.
Carrollian
Notes
Carroll Letters Bring
Record Prices
A collection of twenty-nine letters from
Lewis Carroll to Agnes Hull (all of
which had been published) sold at
Christie's in London on June 26 for
£126,500 ($206,000). Both the seller
and the buyer were anonymous. The
letters include some marvelous examples
of Carroll's talent, including mirror writ-
ing and circular writing. Though the
estimate of £20,000-£30,000 was prob-
ably well below the fair value of this
remarkable collection, this stunning price
is unprecedented for Carroll letters. Bid-
ding progressed rapidly to £55,000 and
even more rapidly after that as two bid-
ders competed for the prize. The final
price was impressive enough to be picked
up by the news wires, and reports of the
sale appeared in papers in France, the
United States, and elsewhere. In a July
30 sale at a Massachusetts auction house,
a copy of The Hunting of the Snark in a
presentation binding inscribed "J. W. B.
from C.L.D. a token of friendship and
regard. Ap. 4, 1876" sold for $5720.
Tenniel Biography
Published
Sir John Tenniel Alice's White Knight,
a full scale biography of John Tenniel,
hasjust been published by Scholar Press
(Old Post Road, Brookfield, VT, 05036).
The book sells for $75.00, but the pub-
lisher is taking pre-publication orders
from LCSNA members for only $55.00.
The book is by Rodney Engen, a Victo-
rian illustration scholar who has also
written volumes on Randolph Caldecott,
Walter Crane, and Kate Greenaway. His
Tenniel volume consists of 169 pages of
text, illustrated with over 150 black and
white illustrations, along with several
lengthy appendices. Most useful of these
is one listing the complete
published works of Tenniel,
which is far more extensive
than previous checklists.
Engen 's effort represents the
first in-depth biography of the
elusive illustrator who con-
tributed so much to the Alice books. A
lengthy chapter on the Alice illustra-
tions includes reproductions of sketches
by both Tenniel and Carroll. Our first
impression of the book, which arrived
just days before this KL went to press, is
that, while still leaving many unanswered
questions about Tenniel, it will prove
an important reference for those inter-
ested in his life and works. A full review
will follow in the next KL.
Fifth Grade Alice
Alice Whipple in Wonderland, by Laurie
Adams & Allison Coudert, tells the story
of ten-year-old Alice Whipple, who
longs to play the lead in the school play,
Alice in Wonderland. Unblessed with
the skills of a thespian, Alice is cast as a
lowly oyster — if only she knew how
much Lewis Carroll admired the perfor-
mance of oyster Dorothy d'Alcourt in
Henry Savile-Clarke's 1 886 /4//re drama!
Carrollians will enjoy the fact that the
authors use this set-up to teach their
readers a little about Lewis Carroll and
his works. Alice's teacher, for instance,
explains the hatter's madness to her stu-
dents: "In the 1 9th century when y4//fc/>7
Wonderland was written, hatters used
certain chemicals that had the unfortu-
nate effect of poisoning them and affect-
ing their minds." Alice Whipple uses her
oyster costume as a disguise to help her
solve a mystery. The book is the sequel
to Alice Whipple — Fifth Grade Detec-
tive, and is written at about fifth grade
reading level. Published by Bantam-
Skylark, it should be available through
your local bookseller.
New Golden Book
Alice
A new "Little Golden Book" of Walt
Disney's Alice in Wonderland has been
issued and is available at bookstores (and
supermarkets) everywhere (Copyright
1991, volume number 105-77). The 24-
page volume features text adapted by
Teddy Slater and illustrations after the
Disney movie by Franc Mateu. As usual
with Disney productions, Lewis Carroll's
name is not mentioned anywhere in the
book. The text combines scenes from
Wonderland andLooking-Glass, and has
been completely rewritten from earlier
Golden Book editions. As in previous
efforts, however, all of Lewis Carroll's
charm is removed from the story, and
whole episodes are summed up with lines
such as "she had entered a strange and
wondrous land . . . full of the oddest
creatures she had ever seen." Character-
izations, and even dialogue, are based on
Disney's, not Lewis Carroll's work.
When one realizes that most American
children will first encounter Alice in an
edition such as this, one wonders if future
generations will ever be inspired to read
the real book. One thing is for certain —
Lewis Carroll would be horrified.
[The recent survey in the D 1 D L 1 O Cj RA 1 H E R S C
Knight Letter indicated ^^''"'^^'""""^~ j /^
R
N
E
R
that many LCSNA members are book collectors with an interest in the
details of Carroll bibliography. In this new column we hope to offer
previously unpublished bibliographical tidbits. We invite contributions
from all members.]
The 1932 first American edition of Alice's Adventures Under-
ground is famous for misstating, both on the dust jacket and in the book,
the date of publication of the first edition. The actual date of the original
was 1 886, but the American Underground states that it was printed in
1 876 and 1 886. We recently acquired a copy of the American Underground,
presumably a later issue, in which this mistake had been corrected. Unfortu-
nately, our copy was lacking the dust jacket. Do any members know if the error
on the jacket was ever corrected?
iMfn C/a^ ra
Of^,
A staged version of Mike Batt's The
Hunting of the Snark will open on Octo-
ber 24 at the Prince Edward Theatre in
London's West End. The original studio
recording of Batt's Snark, released in
1986, featured Roger Daltrey, Art
Garfunkel, Julian Lennon, Cliff Richard,
George Harrison, John Gielgud, and John
Hurt. Full color advertisements in the
London papers look intriguing, but do
not indicate cast members.
LCSNA members who will be in
London in late November and
wish to see the show may wish to
contact the editor, who will be
securing tickets.
Cof^f^e^pondent^
LCSNA member Michele Rosenberg has
written a pop-up version oi Alice which
will be published by Ottenheimer Pub-
lishers of Baltimore, Maryland, in 1992.
The story has been condensed into four
books of approximately 1 80 words each
which will be sold together in a slipcase.
Watch future KLs for details
Also in London this fall, the Brit-
ish Library will mount an exhibi-
tion titled "One hundred and twenty-five
years of Alice" from September to De-
cember. At the September 18 opening
Macmillan and Company and the
Dodgson Family Estate will present the
original Tenniel woodblocks for the /l//cr
books to the museum.
The New York Times Magazine for June
2, 1991 featured a crossword puzzle tided
"Wondrous Maze." Embedded in the
finished puzzle is a quote from Alice.
"Alice in Wondertown" is a Cuban film
which uses Carroll' s story as the basis for
scathing political satire. The Alice of the
film visits a fictional town in which a spa
director tries to cure the spiritual and
physical defects of characters who clearly
reflect the filmmaker's view of what is
bad about Cuba. The film set attendance
records in Cuba until it was banned four
days after opening.
Surveys! Surveys! Surveys!
Results of the LCSNA Membership Survey
will be published in the next Knight Letter^ so
please send in your completed survey if you
have not already done so. If you need a
survey, please contact the editor.
Alyson Publications (40 Plympton St.,
Boston, MA, 02 1 1 8) has launched a new
series of children's books under the title
"Alyson Wonderland." The series, which
is about children with gay and lesbian
parents, uses a stylized Tenniel White
Rabbit in its advertising.
Byron and Victoria Sewell's long awaited
Korean rendition of Alice in Wonderland
has been published by Sharing-
Place of Seoul, Korea. Alice's
adventures are relocated and re-
vised to use the Korean cultural
idiom. The book includes not only
the Korean text but also an English
retranslation as well as illustrations
in the Korean style.
Orchard House of Concord, MA, offered
a special program in July for children to
study local children's author Louisa May
Alcott plus six others, including Lewis
Carroll.
In "A Reader's Guide to the Best in
Business Books," (Lear's, August 1 99 1 ),
Patricia O'Toole recommends Alice as a
prime example of dealing with a hostile
work environment.
A new theatrical version of The Hunting
of the Snark has been produced at Amherst
College and will be presented by KO
Theater Work, Inc., next season. The
work, created by Thom Haxo and Peter
Lobdell, concerns a production of The
Hunting of the Snark which is presented
by the community theatre of
Skinnersville, a fictional town inhabited
by characters which are part animal and
part human.
Adventures in Musicland is a computer
program for the Macintosh family of
computers. Based on Alice, the software
is a collection of four musical games and
puzzles for children. Available from:
Dr. T's Music Software, 100 Crescent
Road, Needham, MA, 02194.
Lewis Carroll makes an appearance in
Julian Rios' novel Larva (Dalkey
Archive, 1991, $27.50). The main action
describes a phantasmagoric party held in
London on a midsummer night. Among
the masked guests are Don Juan, figures
from The Arabian Nights, and everyone's
favorite don.
Prices for animation eels continue to rise
across the board with a eel of "Alice
Amidst the Talking Flowers" from
Disney's 1951 Alice film bringing
$79,200 at Christie's, New York, at a
June sale.
For assistance in preparing this issue we would like to thank: Sandor Burstein, Rene Campbell, Johanna Hurwitz, Stephanie Lovett,
Stan Marx, Lucille Posner, Brian Riddle, Michele Rosenberg, David & Maxine Schaefer, Edward Wakeling, and John Wilcox-Baker.
Knight Letter is the official newsletter of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America. It is published quarterly and is distributed
free to all members. Subscriptions, business correspondence, and inquiries should be addressed to the Secretary, LCSNA, 617
Rockford Road, Silver Spring, Maryland, 20902. Submissions and editorial correspondence should be sent to the Editor, Charles
C. Lovett, 1092 West Fourth Street, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27101.
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